Filing drawer for address printing plates



R. F. OBERGEFELL FILiNG DRAWER FOR ADDRESS PRINTING PLATES Filed Jar m.18, 1965 Sept. 12, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5: INVENTOR. fFo/vALo fOBERGEFELL W v Q ATTORNEY.

Sept 12, 1967 R. ROBERGEFELL I FILING DRAWER FOR. ADDRESS PRINTINGPLATES FiledJan 18, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. RONALD EOEE/PGEFEL LATTORNE).

United States Patent 3,340,799 FILING DRAWER FOR ADDRESS PRINTING PLATESRonald F. Obergefell, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor toAddressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation ofDelaware Filed Jan. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 426,281

7 Claims. (Cl. 10147) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plate drawer having apair of followers therein for retaining between them embossed printingplates or the like has side walls each provided with two spaced apart,inwardly facing open channels, and the followers are each provided witha pair of runners, one on each side, and both extending normal to therespective follower and in the same direction therefrom. The runners areslidable within a pair of opposed channels to guide the movement oftheir respective follower. Each follower has its runners associated withits own pair of channels distinct from that of the other follower, andwhen the followers are arranged with their runners directed towards eachother, they may be brought into close proximity since the runners, beingin independent channels, cannot interfere. Spring members are providedbetween the runners and the channels to afford a frictional drag to thefollowers.

The present invention relates to filing drawers and more particularly tofiling drawers for storing or retaining address printing plates.

In drawers of this kind, the plates are positioned or stacked on edgewithin the drawers and the plates are transferred, a complete drawer ata time, to the magazine of an addressing or printing machine. The drawerthus emptied is then placed at the plate discharge station of themachine where it receives the plates after they are fed through thevarious stations of the printing machine. The plates discharged from themachine drop on edge into the drawer at the rear thereof, and eachsucceeding discharged plate drops in behind the last plate in the drawerto thereby stack the plates from the rear to the front of the drawer. Aplate follower is positioned in front of the plates in the drawer tosupport the stack and prevent the plates from falling over, and thefollower is frictionally moved along toward the front of the drawer asthe plates continue to drop into the drawer.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing arrangement maintains theplates in sequential order, i.e., the plates discharged into thereceiving hopper are positioned in the same order they assumed withinthe drawer prior to being fed through the printing machine. In this way,no further sorting or selecting operations of the plates are required,and the drawer of plates removed from the machine may be placed in astorage cabinet for subsequent use.

Plate drawers of this general nature have been in use for many years.However, while they have met with a certain amount of success, theystill have some shortcom ings and objectionable features resulting inoperator inconvenience and, in some instances, damage or distortion tothe plates. Thus, since conventional plate drawers utilize only a singleplate follower positioned at the front of the stack of plates, in thosecases where less th-ana full drawer of plates are to be stacked, it isnecessary to retain the plates at the rear of the drawer, i.e., betweenthe rear wall of the drawer and the follower. Accordingly, when thedrawer is stored in a file cabinet and it is required to add, remove orreplace certain plates within the drawer, it is difficult andinconvenient to perform these functions unless the drawer is almost completely withdrawn from the storage cabinet.

While it might appear that this situation in present day drawers can becorrected merely by incorporating a second plate follower at the rear ofthe stack, this is not the case. A plate follower necessarily requires apair of rather long runners or guiding surfaces, to prevent. thefollower from cocking and binding when it is moved within the drawer,and thus causing a plate jam. If a second plate follower were used,either these long runners would (1) interfere to prevent bringing thefollowers close to each other in case only a few plates were to bestored, (2) abut the drawer ends and waste valuable plate storage spacein the drawer, or some of each,

In addition to the above, plate followers in present drawers aregenerally provided with means to lock the follower in place against thestack of plates as, for example, in those instances where the drawer isonly partially filled with plates. Although the follower locking orretaining means take on several different forms, usually they are of afriction type such as a cam member adapted to be manually rotated intobinding engagement with the bottom surface of the drawer. Since afollower lock of this kind must afford at least a moderate degree ofresistance to prevent the follower from accidentally working loose, itis often times difficult to readily effect locking and unlocking of thefollower. This condition is somewhat aggravated by the fact that thelock is rather small and not too accessible because of the comparativelysmall cross section of the drawer.

In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention toprovide an improved plate drawer, including plate follower means, whichsubstantially avoids the above mentioned disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pair offollowers to permit stacking the plates at either the front or the rearof the drawer, as well as at any intermediate position within thedrawer.

Another object of the invention is to provide guide means to insuresmooth and positive movement of the followers and at the same timepermit positioning of the followers either in closely spacedrelationship, or at positions very near the ends of the drawer.

Another object of the invention is to provide at least one of thefollowers with locking or retaining means to permit it to be locked atany desired position within the drawer, with no danger of causing damageor distortion to the plates and without obstructing visibility of theplates in the drawer.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plate drawerwhich is attractive in appearance, easy to fabricate and assemble andeconomical to manufacture.

In general, the above objects and others may be attained in accordancewith the practice of the present invention by providingn a plate drawerhaving a double guide channel disposed on each side of the drawer. Thisdouble channel arrangement affords a separate parallel guide channelpair for the runners of each plate follower, thereby permitting closepositioning of the plate followers with no interference of the runners.The follower locking means associated with one of the followerscomprises a slidable latch member which coacts with spaced protuberancesprovided in the bottom surface of the drawer to effect locking of theplate follower at any selected location within the drawer.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description and claims and areillustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by Way of illustration,show the preferred embodiment of the present invention and theprinciples thereof and what is now considered to be the best modecontemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of theinvention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be made asdesired by those skilled in the art without departing from the presentinvention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a condensed side elevation of a filing drawer for addressplates constructed in accordance with the present invention, and showsthe plates positioned between a pair of followers;

FIG. 2 is a condensed plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the filing drawer alone;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 in FIG. 2, but with the platesremoved;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the filing drawer alone;

FIG. 6 is a section partially broken away taken on line 66 in FIG. 4showing a follower locking device;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective detail view of a friction elementassociated with the followers;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 88 in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 9 is a section taken on line 99 in FIG. 5.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plate drawer is of rectangularconfiguration and comprises spaced apart parallel sides 12 and 12a, arear wall 16 and a front section 18, a bottom 20, and a pair offollowers 22 and 24. The followers are positioned in tracks or channelsprovided in the sides and are adapted for movement within the drawerbetween the front and the rear thereof. Preferably, the sides and thebottom of the drawer are made of thin sheet metal and the front and therear are made of molded plastic to keep the weight of the drawer at aminimum. The construction of the drawer is such that the sides 12 and12a provide interlocking connections with the rear wall 16, frontsection 18 and bottom 20, and the bottom is also interlocked with thefront and the rear as will be described hereinafter.

With reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, it will be seen that the sides 12and 12a of the drawer are identical in construction. Accordingly, onlyone side will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, side 12 isprovided at its base With an outwardly formed flange 2 6 and at itsupper portion with outwardly formed ribs 28 and 30 which afford a pairof vertically spaced inwardly facing parallel tracks or channels. Eachend of side 12 is also provided with a substantially U-shaped extensionwhich provides an inwardly turned tab 32 which engages in openings 31and 311' in the front section and the rear wall respectively forattaching the side of the drawer thereto as shown in FIGS. 3, 5 and 8 inthe drawings. Additionally, the body of the side 12 is providedadjacenteach end with an inwardly formed spring latch tongue 34 which is formedintegral with the side as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 8, and which serves tolatch the side in engagement with the front and the rear of the drawer.It will be understood that the side 12a comprises similar partsidentified with the same reference characters with the suflix aappended.

The bottom 20 of the drawer is best shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5 and isprovided with folded edges 36 at its longitudinal sides which snuglyengage the flanges 26, 26a thereby affording a rigid connection betweenthe sides and the bottom of the drawer. The ends of the bottom sectionare provided with upwardly formed flanges 38 each having an inwardlyturned tab 40 provided thereon, and spaced apart spring latch tongues 42are formed from the bottom adjacent each of the flanges 38. The tabs 40cooperate with openings 41 in the front of the drawer and 411 in therear of the drawer and provide a rigid connection between each of themand the bottom (see FIG. 9), and the spring tongues 42 serve to maintainthe bottom in locked engagement with the front and the rear of thedrawer in the same manner that the tabs 32 and spring tongues 34 providefor interlocking the side walls with the front and the rear of thedrawer.

The bottom surface is further provided with a plurality of upwardlyfacing protuberances 44 formed in a row longitudinally of the drawer asshown in FIG. 2. The protuberances are embossed in the bottom surface,are positioned in closely spaced relation to each other and are elongatelaterally of the drawer. These protuberances coact with a locking deviceon one of the followers and permit locking the follower at any positionalong the row. While the spacing between the protuberances and thenumber of protuberances provided in the drawer is not critical, it willbe understood that the closer the spacing and the greater the number ofprotuberances provided in the bottom surface, the more locking positionsof the follower will be available and vice versa.

A pair of spaced apart ribs or beads 46 are also provided in the bottom20, formed upwardly therefrom as by embossing, in the same manner as theprotuberances 44. The beads are positioned adjacent the side walls andparallel thereto, extend approximately the same distance as the row ofprotuberances and are embossed to a height at least as great as that ofthe protuberances. In use, printing plates such as P are stacked on edgein the drawer and rest on the ribs 46. This, of course, reduces to aminimum friction between the bottom edge of the plates and the bottom ofthe drawer and, since the ribs are no lower than the protuberances 44,they prevent the plates from interfering with the protuberances when theplates are moved within the drawer.

The plate followers 22 and 24 of the present invention are shown inFIGS. 1, 2 and 4. Except for the presence or absence of a locking device25, as hereinafter explained, the followers are alike, preferably beingdie cast or made of molded plastic, and each comprising an upwardlyprojecting portion 50 which serves as a finger grip to facilitate movingthe follower within the drawer, and a pair of runners 52 extendingparallel to each other and normal to the body of the follower. The pairof runners 52 is adapted for sliding movement in one of the pairs ofchannels 28, 28a or 30, 30a to guide and support the follower in itstravel within the drawer.

The upwardly facing surfaces of the runners 52 are each provided with arecess 54 for retaining a leaf spring 56, see FIG. 7, which is arcuatelyformed to afford a moderate degree of friction "between the runners andthe channels. This arrangement is such that it provides sufiicientfriction normally to prevent inadvertent movement of the follower and atthe same time to allow the follower to be moved either manually or bythe plates P as they are stacked in the drawer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the runners 52 of the follower 22 are positioned inchannels 28, 28a and runners 52 of follower 24 are positioned inchannels 30, 30a. It will be apparent, with the runners of each followerpositioned in separate channels at different levels and turned away fromthe drawer ends, the followers may be moved toward each other intoclosely spaced relation in those instances where only a few plates areto be stacked between the followers, and may move apart far enough tolie adjacent the drawer ends to provide maximum drawer capacity.

The locking device 25 for the follower 22 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and6 and comprises a body 60 having a pair of depending legs 62 forming anopening 64 therebetween. The upper edge of the body is provided with apair of right angle ears 66 which engage the underside of a projectingrib 68 on the follower to maintain the lock in proper position on thefollower. Positioned between the ears 66, and extending upwardly fromthe body 60, is a member 70 which is also provided with a handle or ear72 to facilitate grasping the lock to effect movement thereof. Thelocking device is supported and guided in its movement as a result ofthe back surfaces of the body 60 and the member 70 bearing against apair of pads or bosses 74 and 76 respectively, provided on the followeras shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. Follower 22 is further provided with anopening 78 intermediate the pads 74 and 76 which permits placing thelock in position on the follower. In this regard, it will be noted thatthe upper portion of the lock 25 comprising the member 70, the ears 66and handle 72 is generally C-shaped, and the lock is assembled to thefollower merely by tilting the lock 25 and inserting ear 72 into opening78 between rib 68 and pad 74 from the side of the follower which doesnot engage the plates, and then guiding the car 72 upwardly andoutwardly in a curved path through the opening 78 between rib 68 and pad76 to the position shown in FIG. 6. It will be appreciated, this mannerof assembling the lock to the follower eliminates the need for anyfastening devices or tools to install or remove the lock, therebyaffording convenience and economy and, at the same time, an effectivelocking device.

In operation, the locking device 25 is adapted for sliding movement fromright to left as viewed in FIG. 4, between any adjacent pair ofproturberances 44 formed in the bottom of the drawer. As shown in FIG.4, lock 25 is in an unlocked position with the opening 64 positioned inline with the protuberances and the legs 62 straddling the same.However, when the locking device is moved to the left as viewed in FIG.4, one leg 62 will enter a trough formed between an adjacent pair ofprotuberances, thereby restricting movement of the lock and, of course,the follower.

With reference to FIG. 1, it will be observed that follower 22 ispositioned closer to the bottom 20 than is follower 24 because therunners 52 of follower 22 are positioned in the lower channels 28 of thedrawer. This, however, does not impede the functioning of the unit inany way and, in fact, is beneficial in that both followers are identicalin construction and can be fabricated from a common die or mold.

The front 18 of the drawer, as seen in FIG. 3, is provided with arectangular window 15 having a pair of flanges 17 for retaining a labelwhich identifies the contents of the drawer. A finger hole 19 may alsobe provided to facilitate removal of a label when, for example, it isdesired to alter or replace the same.

From the foregoing description of the drawer and followers of thepresent invention, it will be understood that in those instances whereless than a full drawer of plates are stacked in the drawer, the platesmay be stacked at the front, at the rear, or at any intermediateposition such as indicated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. Although follower24 is not provided with a locking device, it has been found that thesprings 56 provided between the runners 52 and the channels 30 affordenough friction or drag to prevent the follower from inadvertentmovement. Also, when an empty drawer is placed at the discharge stationof an addressing machine, follower 22 is moved to the extreme rear ofthe drawer and follower 24 is moved into closely spaced relation withthe follower 22. As the plates drop into the drawer between the twofollowers, follower 24 is caused to be moved gradually toward the frontof the drawer, as a result of the build up of plates exerting a force onthe follower which overcomes the frictional resistance of the springs56. When the drawer is removed from the machine, and if it is not filledto capacity, the plates are manually moved toward the front of thedrawer and follower 22 is moved against the rear of the stack of platesand locked in place by positioning the locking device 25 between anadjacent pair of protuberances 44. In this way, the drawer may be storedin a file cabinet and the plates are readily accessible for viewing,replacing and the like, since they are stacked at the front end of thedrawer.

In order that the simplicity of the drawer construction may be fullyappreciated and understood, the procedural steps in assembling thedrawer are outlined hereinbelow:

(l) The flanges 26 of the sides 12, 12a are slid into position withinthe folded edges 36 of the bottom 20 which snugly engage the flanges andform a channel.

(2) The follower lock 25 is threaded through the opening 78 in one ofthe followers, as described hereinbefore.

(3) The followers 22 and 24 are placed in the drawer by positioning therunners 52 in opposed channels 28, 28a and 30, 30a, with the runners ofeach follower facing toward each other.

(4) The rear wall is placed within the channel and moved toward the enduntil it snaps over the spring tongues 34, 34a and 42 and intointerlocking relation with the tabs 32, 32a, of the sides and tab 40 ofthe bottom which engage the openings 31 31r and 41r respectively in therear wall.

(5) The front of the drawer is then assembled in the same manner as therear wall described in (4) above.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a drawerwhich is low in cost, and easy to fabricate and assemble, as a result ofthe parts being made of sheet metal stampings, die castings or moldedplastic which do not require any machining operations. The novelinterlocking means provided for assembling the drawer are such that nowelding, brazing or the like operations are required, nor are anyseparate fastening elements required, thereby further reducing the costand simplifying the assembly of the drawer.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodimentsof my invention, it is to be understood that these are capable ofvariation and modification,

and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details setforth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations asfall within the purview of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drawer of generally rectangular configuration comprising: a pair ofside walls each having two longitudinal inwardly facing channels formedtherein; a bottom secured to the side walls; a front section and a rearwall both secured to the bottom and the side walls; a pair of followersadapted for movement within the drawer, each follower including a bodyand a pair of runners, the latter guided in a respective pair of opposedchannels different from the channels engaged by the runners of the otherfollowers.

2. A drawer as set forth in claim 1 in which spring members are providedbetween the runners and the channels to afford a frictional drag to thefollowers as they are moved within the drawer.

3. A drawer as set forth in claim 1 in which the runners are parallel toeach other, normal to the body, and extend in the same directiontherefrom, said followers positioned within the drawer with the runnerpairs extending toward each other to permit positioning of the followerseither in closely spaced relation, or at positions adjacent the frontand the rear of the drawer.

4. A drawer as set forth in claim 1 in which the bottom is provided witha plurality of protuberances, and in which there is provided on at leastone of the followers a slidable member manually positionable between anadjacent pair of protuberances to effect locking of the follower, and aposition withdrawn from between the protuberances to effect unlocking ofthe follower; and mounting means for the slidable member on the onefollower comprising: an opening in the follower, a rib spanning theopening on one side thereof, the rib and the opening forming a spacetherebetween for the reception of the slidable member, the slidablemember comprising a C-shaped element insertable in the opening by acurved path insertion movement about the rib.

5. A drawer as set forth in claim 4 in which the slidable member isprovided with an ear and a depending leg which engage the rib and thebottom of the drawer respectively to maintain the slidable memberagainst displacement and a handle on said slidable member to permitmoving of the slidable member between locked and unlocked positions.

6. A method of making a drawer which comprises: providing a pair of sidewalls each having an outwardly formed flange, an inwardly turned tabateach end of the side walls, and inwardly formed spring latch tonguesformed integral with the side walls adjacent the ends thereof;

providing a bottom section having folded edges along two parallel sidemargins, upwardly bent flanges along the other side margins, an inwardlybent tab on each of the flanges, and upwardly inclined spring latchtongues formed integral with the bottom section adjacent the flanges;

providing a rear wall and -a front section having openings therein forreceiving said tabs on the side walls and on the bottom flanges;positioning the flanges of the side Walls within the folded edges of thebottom to form a channel;

positioning the rear Wall within the channel at one end thereof, andsnapping it over the spring latch tongues in the bottom and side walls,while interlocking the tabs with the openings in the rear wall; and

placing the front section of the drawer within the channel at the otherend thereof, and snapping it over the spring latch tongues in the bottomand side walls while interlocking the tabs with the openings in thefront section.

7. A drawer which comprises:

a pair of side walls each having an outwardly formed a bottom sectionhaving folded edges along two parallel side margins;

said flanges of the side walls positioned within the folded edges of thebottom to form a channel;

an inwardly turned tab at each end of the side walls, and inwardlyformed spring latch tongues formed integral with the side walls adjacentthe ends thereof;

said bottom section having an upwardly bent flange along each of theother side margins, an inwardly bent tab on each of the flanges, andupwardly inclined spring latch tongues formed integral with the bottomsection adjacent the flanges;

a rear wall and a front section having openings therein for receivingsaid tabs on the side walls and on the bottom flanges;

said rear wall and front section positioned within the channel, one ateach end thereof, with the tabs interlocked with the openings in therear wall and front section, and with the latch tongues retaining therear wall and front section in such position that the tabs and openingsare maintained in interlocking relation.

References Cited WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner.

1. A DRAWER OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR CONFIGURATION COMPRISING: A PAIR OFSIDE WALLS EACH HAVING TWO LONGITUDINAL INWARDLY FACING CHANNELS FORMEDTHEREIN; A BOTTOM SECURED TO THE SIDE WALLS; A FRONT SECTION AND A REARWALL BOTH SECURED TO THE BOTTOM AND THE SIDE WALLS; A PAIR OF FOLLOWERSADAPTED FOR MOVEMENT WITHIN THE DRAWER, EACH FOLLOWER INCLUDING A BODYAND A PAIR OF RUNNERS, THE LATTER GUIDED IN A RESPECTIVE PAIR OF OPPOSEDCHANNELS DIFFERENT FROM THE CHANNELS ENGAGED BY THE RUNNERS OF THE OTHERFOLLOWERS.